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Space Kitties! An Anthology

An anthology full of stories about cats…and space. Cats in space! Space cats!

Who is involved?

The anthology is spear-headed by author E. Kaiser Writes, but the writers include everyone who wants to be involved! Read on to find out how you can be a part of Space Kitties!

When is this taking place?

Submissions close on November 30th, so get hopping!

How do I submit?

Visit the official page on E. Kaiser’s blog and submit your story there! You can submit as many times as you like, there’s no admission fee, and there’s no word count or style requirements!

Why Space Kitties? What does that even mean?

I’m so glad you asked that, because we have a thousand words worth of answer! We interviewed the head of the project and got an inside scoop on what’s going on with Space Kitties, and why you should enter!

The Interview

via Pinterest

What gave you the idea to do a space kitten anthology? What were you reading that made you think “This could use more cats?”

I saw a profile pic of a kitty in space on a writers forum and was like “AwwWWW!!!! That is SOOO CuTE!!!” and I asked where she’d gotten it. She replied it was simply on the internet, and I googled and found a ton of kitties in space pics. So I replied to her and said, “These pics are adorable! Why is there no Space Kitty literature?” and she said: “The combination of words + Space Kitties would be cuteness overload and make the universe implode.” Which made me laugh and laugh for a couple of days afterward.

Then, it hit me: of course the universe could totally stand that much cuteness… and the reading public deserved at least a chance at seeing it! So, the Space Kitties Anthology was born.

So why an anthology? Why not write a novel, or novella or try to get a short story published with someone else?

I loved the way all the space kitty images were done by different artists all loving the same theme, and it just seemed a natural progression to see if different writers might be excited to do a similar thing. A lot of times we writers can get a little stuck in our “ruts”, but something so cute and over the top can help us just let our creativity loop out into the galaxies and have fun with the theme, which can produce the best kind of writing there is! So after discussing it, finding out if others might be thrilled to have a “writer’s party” kind of anthology seemed like the natural next step.

Producing an anthology is a big job. Do you have any previous experience with anthologies or writing contests?

I’ve been involved in several collaboration groups here and there over the years, and we definitely knew that we’d have to be prepared to do everything ourselves if it came down to it. However, we’ve been having a terrific response to this project, and have some really key players step up to the plate and volunteer crucial slots of their own volition, and that’s been just so encouraging to us all! We’re thrilled at the response to this idea, and we hope to maybe have it become a “feature occurrence”; annually, or biannually… we’ll have to see. Of course, the thing’s not done yet, so we’ll see how it all goes… but I really hope that this can be not just writer-centric event, but we can launch this book into reader circles who may not have been contacted by a lot of the authors involved, and we hope to bring a whole lot of cohesiveness on both sides of the fence, with writers becoming more aware of each other and the common bonds they share, as well as increased awareness to an expanded readership.

Do you own any cats yourself? And do they dream of galactic exploration?

Yes, we have an assortment of barn kitties who all have their own personalities. Our “barn queen” Lucy is the sweetest, most affectionate cat, and loves to climb into anyone’s lap and greet them properly with a purr. No, I think they’re all quite happy to laze around in the sun and curl up in the hay at night…. they’re pretty contented with their place in the farm ecosystem, living with the chickens, goats and dogs all harmoniously. (Most of the time! )

Will “Space Kitties” include any of your own work?

I’m thinking it should… not at all sure what it will be. I was kind of thinking a few short poems between some of the stories might be cute, formatting wise; but not sure if anyone will submit any! May have to come up with them myself if we put them in… can’t say yet. I’m still working on several other projects, which I hope to have cleared away before the time comes for working on the Anthology Submissions.

I also thought it’d be super cool to have someone submit an “epic poem” style piece, clever and cute with strict rhyming repetition, somewhat like one that has stuck in my head since childhood. It opened. “The Peaceful pirate met my aunt, in front of Fuller’s restaurant. He asked her in and ordered up, the Bay of Biscay in a cup…”

Then it went on to list a huge array of outlandish dishes… and ended “and even started in to bawl, when she could not eat it all.”

I remember Mom reading that as clearly as if it happened yesterday. She loved that part of the story book!

Write quirky poetry. Got it. Is there anything else you’d like to tell potential writers to convince them to submit to “Space Kitties”?

I guess I’d love to share my vision with potential collaborators. And that is: I see families reading this together, kids draped on their parents shoulders, all drawn together by the power of stories. I see youngsters reading it on their own, boldly going where they’ve never been before, getting their imaginations stretched in new and exciting ways. I see the younger readers looking forward to imroving their reading levels so they too can read this on their own. A good book can become a memory forever, and my best hope for this anthology is for it to become something that lives on in the hearts and minds of its readers in a special place. And I hope that years down the road, someone will come up to the writers who collaborated on this and say “You were in Space Kitties! I LOVED that book! We read the cover off.”

I’m hoping to get a wide range of styles. I’d love for this to be able to be used almost as a curriculum of writing styles by enterprising parents! We’d be thrilled to receive a really gripping novella-length tale. And I’m hoping for some super cute, short and sweets with powerful punchlines. And I’d also love some cleverly lined poetry, in the old style, with really good rhymes. A collection of short peices would be so much fun to use to break up the other submissions… But we’ll see what we get.

We’re still a good ways off from the final product, and we’re still getting in touch with new authors, new volunteers, and new places to reach readers, so we are very excited and we definitely welcome anyone interested in the project!

Afterword

Anyone interested in existing kitten science fiction should check out Larry Niven’s series “The Man-Kzin Wars” which features his terrifyingly warlike feline race the Kzinti.

About E. Kaiser Writes

E. Kaiser Writes lives in the Wide Wild surrounded by friendly creatures, and combines witty dialog, twisty turns, and complex plots with deeply meaningful themes, resulting in a reliably unpredictable happy ending in most of her writings. Author of the Fia’s Journey series, (as well as the upcoming Thaw series, of which she is hard at work on book 3) she is currently hosting a call for submissions for the sci-fi anthology Space Kitties: an encouraging opportunity for writers of all stages to join together in print & e-book, with no entry fees or hidden restrictive rights clauses. Anyone interested is invited to visit her blog, E. Kaiser Writes-A-Blog.

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